Atlas Person of the Century: 16th

[JohnFKennedy]

Haha! William Cecil made it I see. Glad to see that quite a few of the names I dropped in are present. I went with Suleiman who I would argue was possibly more important for the Reformation than Martin Luther; without the constant Turkish threat, Charles V would have been able to pay far more attention at enforcing unity within the Holy Roman Empire. This Turkish threat in turn helps the Valois in their continual battles with the Habsburgs which impacts on Italy as many of the Habsburg-Valois wars were fought there. Suleiman's expansion of the Ottoman Empire into a major world force, then, had major implications throughout Europe in the sixteeenth-century.

I tried to go with the figure who had the most impact on that century, rather than history as a whole. Also, I'm not sure I could give it to Shakespeare purely for the reason that his best works - the tragedies - were not written - or at least published - until the seventeenth-century.

[JohnFKennedy]

Fair dos. Another interesting name for the sixteenth-century in England would be Reginald Pole; had a decent claim to the throne of England (just as good as the Tudors), was mooted as a potential husband for Mary in their youth (so could have been king by marriage), was a Cardinal and could have been Pope but felt it was his duty to restore Catholicism to England which he couldn't do as Pope.

[JohnFKennedy]

Who on earth voted for Elizabeth?